Coming next on ITV: Er, we're not quite sure ...

AS the row over bringing back News At Ten grows increasingly bitter, another less well-publicised but potentially far graver problem is troubling independent television: Who will run ITV?

The position of chief executive of ITV Network Centre has been vacant since Richard Eyre cleared his desk in January in order to run Pearson Television.

But despite an annual salary of around 500,000 and generous bonuses linked to the station's ratings, ITV's plum job remains unfilled.

A firm of London head-hunters, Whitehead Mann, is on the case, and at least one high profile candidate has slipped through the net. Peter Littlewood, a senior marketing man with Mars confectionery, was offered the job before Easter but got cold feet.

ITV's chairman Leslie Hill admits: "We did get very close with Peter Littlewood, but at the end of the day he was reluctant to leave Mars. It's not that there's anything wrong with us or with the job. We're determined to make the right appointment and if it takes a long time, so be it."

Most of those tipped for the job come, as Eyre did, from the world of advertising. Most heavily tipped is David Pattison, currently chief executive of the media buying firm New PHD, where he has overseen the ad campaigns for BT, The Economist and Volvo.

Others mentioned in connection with the job include fellow media buyers Dominic Proctor of Mindshare and Zenith Media managing director Simon Marquis. The fact that whoever runs the network centre needs to be a totally impartial figure makes it virtually impossible for head-hunters to approach executives at Carlton, United or Granada.

Paul Bonner, a former senior executive at the network centre, says ITV is dithering: "There's disagreement over what sort of person is right for the job. Put that together with the other matters that are preoccupying the major companies and you have a scenario for indecision."

"It's all hugely embarrassing for ITV," says another industry veteran.

"There are all sorts of rumours about candidates for the job being handled in the most cavalier fashion. Frankly, the selection process has been a shambles."

One media head-hunter, who declines to speak on the record, says with understatement: "Not everyone wants this job. Today's chief executives want to wield real power and they're looking for real money in share options and the like which they can get in the dotcom business. No one running the network centre is going to get rich."

Nevertheless, ITV remains a buoyant business, with advertising revenue around the 2 billion mark. Leslie Hill insists the reason it is taking so long to find a new chief executive is because he wants to make sure the right person is found. But if he doesn't find someone soon, the men at the top of the ITV companies might start to lose their patience - and the already fragile ecology of ITV may start to spin out of control.

Steve Clarke is executive editor of Broadcast magazine

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